System: Dell Inspiron 14 Laptop model 3451 - Edition: Windows 8.1, 64-bit, 4GB RAM.
We have received this laptop in our church as a donation. I did a factory default restore from the recovery media (external USB drive).

The system is up and running, but I cannot do any of the Windows updates.

It is still a no-go after various fix attempts including: using the Windows update troubleshooter
which "fixed" problems, but no windows updates are being downloaded..., Also used these steps to stop the services wuauserv, cryptSvc, bits, msiserver, renaming C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old, renaming C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old, restart the services wuauserv, cryptSvc, bits and msiserver. I have also done a clean boot through msconfig (on services tab of the System Configuration dialog box, hide all Microsoft services check box, and Disable all other services) - (Disabled each Task Manager startup item) (this means all antivirus soft, firewall are disabled + any non-Microsoft drivers), but still the "Windows Update" screen is stuck at "Checking for updates". Some forums mentioned this might be due to the system using Wi-Fi to download the Windows Updates: as the laptop is not equipped with an Ethernet port, I used a StartTech USB-to-Ethernet adapter to connect to my router for Internet access from the laptop.

Still no-go!

The "Windows Update screen shows "Never" for both "Most recent check for updates' and "Updates were installed". The C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download is empty.

From the screen "Control Panel" / "All Control Pane Items" / "Windows Update", when I click on "Installed Updates", its screen shows 93 Microsoft Windows Updates installed from November 20, 2014 to July 3, 2015 (that are most likely part of the factory image).

Maybe there are no new updates to download???

My router indicates no traffic from the laptop, so it's not even communicating with Microsoft windows update repository.

Is there anything that I missed? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you